Osborne & Little to go private

LUXURY wallpapers and fabrics group Osborne & Little is taking itself private after 18 years on the stock market. Founders Sir Peter Osborne and Antony Little will take control of the company through a £12.96m offer at 215p a share cash.

Shareholders can also opt for shares in the private takeover company.

O&L designs and distributes fine fabrics and wallpapers under its own name brand and those of Nina Campbell and Liberty Furnishings, with two-thirds of its sales made overseas.

Revealing a swing from profits of £414,000 to losses of £139,000 in the year to March, Osborne said: 'We anticipate a sustained period of difficult trading conditions.'

There had been no signs of improvement in the US or UK in the three months since the year-end.

'Negative market sentiment to smaller quoted companies and the illiquidity of our shares has significantly eroded the benefit to the company of maintaining its listing,' Osborne added.

O&L shares peaked at more than 800p in 1996. But at last night's close they had declined to a low point of 165p, making today's offer at a 30% premium. The stock soared to 210p after the market opened today.

The offer has irrevocable acceptances from shareholders owning 76.3% of the equity. Little and Osborne each own stakes of roughly 25%.